February 15, 2002

Assemby Unveils Renovated Website

The unveiling of the Student Assembly’s (S.A.) newly-renovated website yesterday was met with both approval and constructive criticism from members, and is expected to go online some time next week.

Adam Cantrowitz ’02 designed the refurbished website. It retains several of the features of the older version and also includes some new elements.

Revamped

An announcements section will contain links to current and important issues discussed in the S.A., such as Slope Day policy changes and the increased ResNet fee. Members of the Cornell community will be able to e-mail their concerns and comments in a new feedback section.

“Students want to see who their members are, what resolutions have been passed. I think this is a much better gateway for students to their government,” said Michael Matly ’03, vice president for public relations.

While generally praising the efforts of Cantrowitz, who devoted about four months to the project, Assembly members offered several suggestions to improve the new design.

“This is just the first step for the website,” said S.A. member Lindsay Patross ’02, “We really hope this will be a way for students to interact with the Student Assembly.”

Members suggested creating a poll section to receive input from the Cornell community, purchasing its own domain name for the website and having a link to the site from the University’s home page.

Plans

There are also plans for a University calendar that will keep students current about Assembly elections and other cultural events.

Along with the new features, the website still provides most of the information contained in its former version, such as pictures and quick facts about student representatives, passed resolutions and meeting minutes and information about S.A. committees.

According to Matly, who introduced the website to the Assembly, there were six candidates who competed for the opportunity to improve the design of the site, some from outside the University. The S.A. ultimately picked Cantrowitz, partly because he was a Cornell student.

The Assembly debated other issues at the meeting, such as the decision to turn down a request from the senior class council for an additional $2,000 to fund Senior Week. The money was intended to sponsor over 70 Senior Week events, including a carnival, similar to the one which drew over 4,000 students last year.

“Our goal is to shift the party mentality from Collegetown to a safer atmosphere,” said Senior Class President Lisa Adelman ’02.

The S.A. increased the Senior Week allocation from the student activity fee for next year, but the senior class council said that they still need money this semester to ensure that the events in May are free or relatively cheap.

The S.A. rejected the request, concerned that nearly all of its current budget is allocated for other special projects, including an expected increase in Slope Day-related funding requests.

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